


Wake the Sleeping Damsel with a Kiss

by Quinnezel



Category: Ever After High
Genre: Battle the Queen, Dragon Games, F/F, Femslash February
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-20 20:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6023515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinnezel/pseuds/Quinnezel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A reworking of the Darling/Apple portion of Ever After High Dragon Games episode 4 (Battle the Queen) that gives insight into Darling's thoughts and just maybe expands on the CPR/kiss moment. I tried to fit it in to the episode as closely as possible, so there's a lot of overlap with events and dialogue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Apples, Vanilla, and Cinnamon

Darling’s heart was heavy. The Evil Queen had taken over Ever After High, had used dark magic to transform it into a grim mockery of its once beautiful self. Dragons, under the Evil Queen’s control, patrolled the skies around the castle, and she knew they wouldn’t hesitate to destroy anything that came near.

Worst of all, Apple had been poisoned. They still didn’t know how the poison apple had wound up in Apple’s hand, but there was no denying it. Apple was deep in the throes of Forever After Sleep.

Darling cared about Apple, more than she could possibly convey, and more than she cared to tell. She knew, though, that the only thing that would wake Apple now was a kiss from her True Love, Darling’s brother, Daring. Daring and Apple had been at each others’ sides for as long as Daring could remember, because they both knew it was their destiny to be together forever after.

Right now, Daring was pacing just outside of the clearing where Apple lay, unmoving beneath a curved sheet of glass. Darling knew he was having a hard time wrapping his head around the immensity of what he was being called upon to do. He had surely expected to have years before his destiny was at hand, but now it was upon him. Upon all of them. Once he kissed Apple, and she awoke from her sleep, they would have fulfilled every element of their story, short of defeating the Evil Queen.

Darling knew that, without a nudge, Daring would never be ready, would never kiss Apple. Without Apple, she knew their chances of victory over the Evil Queen were slim.

“This is happening so fast!” Daring exclaimed, seconds from losing his will entirely and fleeing.

Darling walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “Come on, drama prince. Let’s go save Apple.”

Knowing her brother, she led him away from the clearing, to where she had tied his steed. She knew nothing would steel his nerves like making a dramatic entrance.

“You’re sure I look fine?” he said, raising his mirror and giving his reflection a once-over.

“I’m sure, Daring. You look like a dashing prince, come to save his damsel.” She hated calling Apple a damsel, because Apple was one of the strongest and most courageous people she knew, but she knew what Daring needed, and wanted, to hear.

“Yes,” Daring said, “you’re right. I am dashing.” He mounted his steed in a quick motion. “To my damsel!” he shouted, and took off in the direction of the clearing.

Darling followed, but slowly. She didn’t think she could handle seeing everything happen. She didn’t want to watch Daring kiss Apple. If she saw it, his kiss waking her and sealing their Happily Ever After, her heart would break even more than it was breaking now. She heard cheering from up ahead, signaling that Daring had reached the clearing. Daring shouted some more words, but she couldn’t make them out. She was pretty sure he said damsel again, and cringed slightly in response.

Eventually she reached the clearing, but she was surprised to see that Apple was still out cold. Daring was backing away slowly, staring at his shaking hands with wide, horrified eyes.

Raven approached him. “Daring, is something wrong?”

“I’m… I’m not the prince of Destiny…” he cried, his eyes growing even wider. “I’m not her prince charming…” He had barely gotten the words out before a look of utter defeat came over him, and he crumpled inward. He walked away, shoulders low, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

“What does this mean?” Cedar asked, her voice shaking.

Raven paused for a moment before responding, “It means that Apple’s forever sleep… really is forever after.”

They all stared, wordlessly, at Apple. Apple was usually pale, much like her mother, but all of the color had drained from her skin, save for a slight rosiness in her cheeks. She was beautiful, in a way that brought them all sorrow. If Daring couldn’t wake her, then she was as good as dead, and they knew she would never wake.

 

For a few minutes, they all simply stood there. Most of them were crying, and they clung to each other desperately, not knowing what the future would bring or how much time they had left with each other.

Darling couldn’t cry. Her heart felt like it had plunged through her body, out her feet, and into an ice bath. She was overcome with the deepest sadness she had ever felt, and she was convinced she would never see the other side of it.

After a short while, Raven conjured up a lectern of sorts, and stood behind it. She looked around, then began to speak.

“We’re here today to honor and spellebrate Apple White.” Darling tried to listen to the rest of Raven’s speech, but found herself falling more and more into the dark, cold pit in her chest. Anguish overtook her, and tears streamed down her face, falling softly to the ground. She closed her eyes tightly and dug her fingernails into her palms. Soon she could hear Raven again, and she opened her eyes, blinking away the watery film that was making everything murky.

”If your choice is to follow your predetermined destiny, you have to trust that it will happen in its own time, and you don’t have to make a deal with evil…”

Raven looked at herself in the Booking Glass. Darling noticed a shift in her demeanor, a hardening in her eyes. “Make a deal with evil…” Raven whispered. “I… I have to go,” she said suddenly, and took off into the woods.

Whispers and murmurs of uncertainty, of worry, worked their way through the clearing. With Apple poisoned, Raven was the obvious choice for a leader, but she was leaving just when they needed her most.

“Now, now, everyone, I’m sure Raven will be back.” Maddie reassured them, trying to sound confident. “I’m sure she only left because…” Darling could tell the gears were turning in Maddie’s head. “Because it’s tea time, of course!” she finished, conjuring a long table and chairs, along with plenty of tea and snacks, from her clutch.

Knowing the others were in good hands, Darling snuck out of the clearing, in the direction Raven had gone. She found her with the dragons, preparing Nevermore for flight.

 “You’re going to see your mother, aren’t you? Raven, you can’t!” Darling declared, concern and grief cutting through her otherwise composed voice.

 Raven walked toward Darling, one hand on her chest, the Booking Glass still clutched in the other. “It’s the only way,” she said, her voice taking a commanding tone, “I know what I’m doing. Here, you’re going to need this.”

Darling felt Raven press something into her hand, and grabbed it. “The Booking Glass? But, we don’t e…”

“Trust me,” Raven interrupted, returning to Nevermore and jumping into her saddle. “Somebody is about to have a change of heart.” Nevermore gave out a roar, and took off powerfully, the gale from her wings blowing Darling’s hair straight back.

“What are you up to, Raven Queen?” Darling whispered, looking back at the Booking Glass.

Darling slowly made her way back to the clearing. She stared at her reflection in the Booking Glass, trying to figure out what Raven’s plan was, and how she and the mirror fit into it. She also thought about Apple, her sorrow weighing heavily on her heart. She hadn’t given up on Apple yet, and never would, but she couldn’t think of any ways to help her.

No one noticed her when she reentered the clearing. Tea time was over, and they seemed calmer than before, but they were still on edge. She worked her way quietly through the crowd. Maddie found her and pulled her aside. “I saw you go after Raven. Where is she? I’m trying my best here, but I’m not a leader. I’ve done everything I can to keep everyone from freaking out, but I’m all out of ideas. No, wait! I can bounce on my head and juggle cakes!”

“You can do that?” Darling asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know… But I definitely don’t know that I can’t!”

Maddie ran off to try, and Darling continued to work her way past her fellow students. She wasn’t sure where she was going until she stopped near Dexter, turned, and found herself in front of Apple. The sight of her, still so pale and motionless beneath the glass, stirred her heart, before dropping it once more into the ice bath.

Suddenly, the Evil Queen’s voice broke through the clearing, seeming to come from dozens of places at once. They looked around in fear, then someone gasped. Soon they were all staring at their phones, the Evil Queen staring back at them.

“Just thought you’d be hexcited to know that I’m… leaving Ever After High, and this kingdom, forever after.” The Evil Queen was intimidating, even seen through a phone, and the students stood, petrified. They all gasped this time, an odd mixture of fright, disbelief, and hope rippling through them.

“ Yes,” the Evil Queen continued, pausing to let out an evil laugh, “that’s right. Your cursed lives have all been spared because, well, let’s just say Mother’s Day came early this year.”

She stepped to one side, gesturing behind her, where Raven stood, garbed in large, garish feathers and a crown much like her mother’s. Another gasp spread through the clearing, their hope now horror.

The clearing was awash in a new wave of whispers and murmurs. No one wanted to believe that Raven could join her mother, that she could be evil. She had fought her destiny for so long, and seeing her succumb to it was more than they could bear.

Darling was filled with doubt, but she looked at the Booking Glass and knew that Raven had to have a plan. She renewed her efforts to figure out what it was, wracking her brain for anything that would tell her what to do next, but she was still coming up empty.

 

With the Evil Queen no longer on their phones, everyone spread out in the clearing. Some were still having hushed conversations about Raven, some were gathered around Apple, and some just stood where they were, dumbstruck.

Daring was near the edge of the clearing, filled with self-pity and the sudden uncertainty of his future. Darling pulled him by his arm, forcefully. She needed to talk to him, but wanted to do so away from the crowd.

“Hey! What the hex? Can’t you see I’m trying to wallow?” he said, his face distorted by his frown.

“All this pouting! And not a good look on you. It’s time to turn the page, brother.”

“Oh, that’s easy for you to say!” Daring’s tone had turned sour. “Don’t you understand? I just lost my destiny. I’m not Apple’s prince charming!” he exclaimed, and grabbed Darling’s shoulder.

She shook his hand off. “And I’m not a damsel in distress!” she responded forcefully. “Some of us aren’t going to follow our original destinies.”

“But I was so sure of mine. If my kiss can’t wake her, then I don’t know what can.”

They were interrupted by a gasp from Briar, followed by the words, “Apple, wake up!” They looked over just in time to see Apple rise for a moment before giving a long, harsh breath out and falling still.

Darling ran over, shoving Briar out of the way. She put her head to Apple’s chest, listening, needing to know Apple was still alive. There was nothing.

She grabbed Apple by the shoulders and shook her. “Breathe, Apple, breathe!” she yelled, frantic. Everyone had come running, and were now gathered around Apple. All eyes were on Darling.

Her mind raced through dozens of possibilities, but she didn’t know what to do. The only certain thing was that she loved Apple, and she wasn’t going to let her die. Her mind settled on two ideas, but she couldn’t choose between them.

The first option was something she had learned from a book. If someone wasn’t breathing, you had to breathe for them, until their heart could be restarted, usually with magic. To breathe for Apple, she would have to blow air into her lungs and then compress her chest to pump her heart manually.

The second option was unthinkable, and Darling thought herself crazy for even having taken the time to think it through. But it also felt right in her heart. Her heart said that Daring couldn’t wake Apple because he didn’t truly, deeply love her. He was incapable of truly loving anyone until he got past his obsession with himself and his appearance, until he could care about someone else as much as he cared about himself. But Darling had always put others before herself, and, when she loved, she loved fiercely. And she loved Apple fiercely. Truly. Deeply. If she kissed Apple, maybe her love would be enough to wake her.

Darling was out of time, and she needed to do something. She realized that her two options shared one element: her lips on Apple’s lips. She had a moment of clarity, and steeled her nerves. Her heart was pounding, running at a million miles an hour, but she couldn’t waver, wouldn’t waver.

She leaned down toward Apple, trying to remember the instructions from the book. She held Apple’s nostrils closed with one hand, gently lifted her chin with the other, and took a breath.

Her lips met Apple’s and she breathed out, watching Apple’s chest rise slightly, then fall. But she knew right away that something else was happening. She could feel magic coursing through her lips, and, where they met Apple’s, a bright, golden light poured forth.

It was then that she realized she had to kiss Apple, truly kiss her, channel all her love through her lips and into Apple. Her hands slid back, around Apple’s head, pulling her closer, her eyes closed, and she kissed her.

Apple was still, but Darling could feel her kissing back, knew she was alive, and her heart fluttered. Her world shrunk down, slowed to only this moment. All she knew was Apple. The feel of her velvet lips, impossibly soft, and her silky hair, falling in quiet rivulets through Darling’s fingers. Darling could taste apples, of course, but also vanilla, and cinnamon. The glow from their lips was blinding, even with her eyes closed as they were. She cradled Apple’s head tenderly in her hands, wanting to bring her ever closer. They kissed a little longer, then Darling gently laid Apple’s head back down and rose. She could feel everyone watching her, but she didn’t care.

For a long second, everyone waited. Apple’s chest rose and fell from her breathing, and then her eyes opened.

She looked around, taking everything in. “What happened? Did Daring wake me up?”

Darling cringed, but nothing could ruin her happiness in that moment. Apple was alive, and it was only through Darling’s love for her that it was so. Apple would find out what happened, sooner or later. Darling didn’t know what would happen then, but there was a chance for her and Apple. That was enough.


	2. Dark Chocolate and Blueberries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After defeating the Evil Queen, Apple tries to figure out what exactly happened while she was in Forever After Sleep. Who woke her? And why won't anyone give her any straight answers?

Apple sat on her bed, taking a moment to clear her head. After they had defeated the Evil Queen, and she had had a moment of reunion with her mother, she had quickly and quietly made her way back here. So much had happened in so little time, and she needed to process it.

She was still unclear on a lot of what had happened, however. There was a giant blank space in her memory. She remembered taking a bite of the apple Featherly had given her, and she remembered waking up to a clearing-ful of relieved friends. In between… Nothing.

How much of her destiny had she fulfilled? She felt like it should have been all of it, but, at the same time, something felt off. Different. She didn’t think it was different in a bad way, but, not knowing what had happened, she couldn’t be sure.

Raven wandered into their room, taking a seat on her own bed. “There you are, Apple! We were all wondering where you had gone.”

“Raven, I need you to answer something for me. Honestly.” As the words left Apple’s mouth, she noticed Raven tense up, eyeing the door. Reassured that something different had, indeed, happened, Apple pressed on. “Did Daring wake me? Is my story complete, just like that, everything in its place? Happily ever after?”

Raven stood abruptly. “Sorry, Apple, but I just remembered that I… Um… Dragon stables, and Nevermore… Um… Yes.” She ran through the door and away. Apple heard her footsteps falling quickly, progressing down the hall until they faded with the distance.

Unnerved, she decided to find out exactly what had happened, and as soon as possible. She made her way through the school, working her way downward toward the sound of a chorus of voices. As she approached the castleteria, the voices grew loud. It sounded like the entire school was gathered, celebrating the re-capture of the Evil Queen.

Apple wasn’t prepared to face everyone just yet, especially not before she knew what had happened, so she ducked into the shadow of the staircase and waited.

 

Before long, Briar wandered out, yawning. Apple rushed over to her, calling, “Briar!” The yawn vanished from Briar’s face, and Apple could tell she was nervous. 

“Hey, Apple. You’re missing a great party here.”

“I’m sure I am. But I really need to ask you a question. What happened in the clearing, before I woke up?”

“Oh, you know,” Briar said, pausing. “True love’s kiss, gold light, waking up, all that stuff.”

“Yes, but who kissed me? Daring?” Apple didn’t want to let Briar get away like Raven had, so she took a step closer to her. She hoped her reflexes were good enough to catch her if she tried to run.

“Um… Well, yes. He did kiss you,” Briar stated flatly, refusing to make eye contact.

“And that woke me?”

There was a long pause before Briar continued. “Yes. Totally… Prince… Charming to the rescue. Something like that. Hey, would you listen to that. Party’s still going, and, me being the party person and all… Bye.” 

Briar made a dash for it, but Apple caught her by the wrist. “Briar, wait. Please. I really need to know what happened.”

“I get it, Apple. But I can’t… I can’t be the one to tell you. I’m sorry. It’s not my place. You should talk to Daring. He was directly involved, and it involves his destiny, so…” Apple let go of her wrist and she ran through the doors, back to the party, looking back once to give Apple a sad look.

 

Apple found Daring in his room, staring into a giant mirror on the wall and fixing his already perfectly-groomed hair. “Hey, Daring.”

Daring jumped, turning, before muttering in a soft voice, “Apple.” He regained his composure, squared his shoulders, and cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was steady, “I mean Apple.”

“I need to know what happened earlier, and no one will tell me. Surely you can.”

Daring’s eyes flashed uncertain for just a moment, then he squared his shoulders even further, puffing out his chest. “Of course I can! Why, I kissed you of course. And you woke up! Just like our story says! Prince Charming and his damsel, reunited by true love’s kiss!”

Apple had spent lots of time with Daring, and they had talked about many things. She knew him very well, and could tell when he was acting strangely, and right now all of her alarms were going off. It was like he was trying to be himself, but failing by being too over the top.

“Is that really what happened?” she asked, watching him carefully.

He flinched, but recovered quickly. “Of course it is. How silly to think anything else happened. It’s only our entire destiny.” He laughed awkwardly.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Apple demanded. After a moment, she added, “If you don’t mind. Please.”

“I kissed you, and there was a bright gold light everywhere. You woke up, and I was right by your side. Surely you remember that.”

Apple thought back. She didn’t remember that moment too clearly. Forever After Sleep was like being dead, and waking up from it had left her extremely groggy. But she was pretty sure Daring had been in front of her, not beside her. She strained her memory more, and thought she remembered a soft form by her side, much more slight than Daring, and the smell and taste of dark chocolate and blueberries tickled her senses.

Apple was running before she realized it. Daring called after her, but she was already too far away to tell what he said.

 

She found Darling exactly where she expected to. Few people knew about Darling’s fierce desire to be the hero, and her hatred of playing the damsel, but Apple was perceptive, and she had noticed. She also noticed that, whenever Darling was upset or nervous, she would always practice her hero skills.

Darling was facing the entrance of the room when Apple opened the door, a sword in one hand and a sword practice dummy behind her. Apple’s footsteps had been loud, echoing through the halls, so she wasn’t surprised.

“Is everything okay?” Darling asked, genuine concern in her voice.

“Yes, of course. Everything’s fine.” Apple tried to keep her voice steady, but her heart was pounding in her chest. “Darling, I think I know what happened in the clearing. But I also think you’re the only person that will tell me the truth. You kissed me, didn’t you?”

“Oh. Um… Apple, listen. I don’t want to interfere with your destiny. And Daring… Daring is my brother, and he’s supposed to be your Prince Charming, and I… I don’t want to confirm anything for you that can’t be unconfirmed.” Darling’s voice faltered, and her head sank. 

Apple could tell she was torn up over how everything was playing out. She thought of another way to confirm her belief. “Can I kiss you?”

Darling’s head rose quickly. Apple saw a whirlwind of emotion contained in her eyes. There was a long pause, and the silence hung in the air heavily. Finally, quietly, Darling whispered, “Yes.”

Apple closed the distance between them and put her hands on Darling’s hips. She leaned in close, and their lips met softly. 

There was a loud clang as the sword hit the ground, dropped and forgotten as Darling’s arms wrapped around Apple and pulled their bodies together. The kiss deepened, and Apple was overwhelmed with the taste of dark chocolate and blueberries. Through her closed eyelids, Apple could see a faint gold light, and she returned Darling’s fervor.

After a moment they separated, and Darling was smiling from ear to ear. Apple realized she was, too.

“What happens now?” Darling asked.

“Well, you’re my destiny. No question about that now. So, us.”

They smiled, and Darling held Apple close.


End file.
